All in a Day's Work
by crematosis
Summary: Albel is having trouble telling fantasy from reality...is he on Elicoor or Earth? And is anything real anymore? AlbelxFayt


A/N: Yes…this idea came to me last night while I was taking a shower…of course, you really didn't need to know that…but anyway, I do not take hour long showers…so the whole storyline coming to me just like that was pretty flippin sweet. Don't take it too seriously since it's silly and I really didn't spend much time on it. XDDD he he...Albel as an actor…what fun.

Disclaimer: Man, if I actually owned Albel and Fayt…there would be a star ocean movie…star ocean TV show…star ocean comics…star ocean books…ehehe…the merchandise opportunities are unlimited…but alas, I own nothing except some crappy artwork of chibi albel.

Albel Nox prowled the hallways of the inn, stopping to glance into the open rooms of his "friends". He frowned as he watched Cliff listening to System of a Down and playing air guitar. "That idiot needs a life," Albel muttered.

He almost fell over when he spotted Sophia and Peppita in a room decorated entirely in pink, playing tea party. "When the hell did that happen?" he muttered to himself. "And how did they get pink wallpaper? I didn't think you could wallpaper and inn room, but somehow those numbskulls found a way."

Albel almost bumped into Fayt, who was rushing down the hall carrying a box of ruined projector reels. Fayt looked to be in a huge rush, but he stopped to call out to Albel as he raced by, "You do know that this is an AU, don't you?"

Albel came to a dead stop, completely floored by the weight of the information. Suddenly everything made sense.

Fayt deposited the box into a room and raced back to Albel. "Did you completely lose your mind again?"

"No," Albel growled. "I just didn't know that we were doing an AU so I started wondering why Cliff was listening to music."

"Oh." Fayt smiled. "Yeah, this time it's a pretty modern day AU."

"Wait…System of a Down exists in modern time?"

Fayt rolled his eyes. "Of course it does. It doesn't just exist in the future…err…well, it may not even exist in the future. It'd probably be outdated."

Albel groaned. "Fayt, don't do this to me. I hate technology and worrying about what technology exists in different time periods. I say get rid of the whole lot!"

Fayt frowned. "Albel, have you been losing yourself in your character again? I think you've been doing too many period pieces and you're staring to forget modern life."

Albel sighed. "Don't you ever lose yourself in your character?"

Fayt shook his head. "Never this badly. I think you've been acting too hard."

Albel raised an eyebrow. "That's a loaded statement."

"Why do you always do that?" Fayt complained. "You take offense with everything I say. I say something perfectly innocent and you get all defensive."

Albel shrugged. "I'm not offended. I just wonder if you've realized all the meanings for the word hard…." He regarded Fayt out of narrowed eyes.

Fayt turned pink. "Oops…I kind of forgot to think about all the innuendos I could be projecting."

Albel grinned predatorily. "I eat innuendos for breakfast. Now, my delicious boyfriend, what kind of AU will it be today? Full of sex? Fluff-filled? Snogging? More sex?"

Fayt rolled his eyes. "All you ever think of is sex."

Luther raced down the hall clinging to a bundle of scripts. "What are you two doing, behaving like lovers off-set?"

"Uh, we're practicing?" Fayt offered.

Luther scowled. "All I know is you two better deliver when it comes to your on-screen performance. You both are notorious for acting perfectly off camera and then not being emotional enough for the real thing."

"It was Albel's fault," Fayt grumbled under his breath.

Albel shrugged, ignoring Fayt's remark. "The fool is just camera shy. He doesn't like acting in front of large audiences, well, at least the R-rated parts."

Fayt scowled. "Meanie." He lightly socked Albel's arm.

Luther frowned. "Well, I expect you both to be onstage in five minutes. Albel, get out of that dated costume and put on some pants. And drop the use of fool. It's supposed to be the 90s."

Albel sighed irritably and sank into a nearby chair as soon as Luther had left. "What am I going to do? I suck at modern acting. I have no life it seems. I don't know what's happening in modern times. I'm at the studio all day working on my ancient character. I hardly remember what life is like off Elicoor."

Fayt gave Albel a sympathetic look. "I'll help you, if there's anything you need."

Albel smirked. "Well…you can start by becoming my boyfriend."

Fayt smiled. "I already am. Everything we act in, I'm automatically paired with you sooner or later."

Albel rolled his eyes. "No, I mean in real life."

Fayt looked worried. "But we're not supposed to have any relationships while we're working."

Albel scoffed. "Bah, I want to quit acting. If I can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality, I need to take a vacation. And I'm taking you with me."

Fayt bit his lip nervously. "Err…but Albel, we're just acting in a relationship…we're not actually in one. You may like me in character, but you don't know me as a person. We're different people off-screen."

Albel sighed heavily. "I'm not."

Fayt hugged Albel. "You're right, you do need a break. Okay, I'll be willing to come with you for a week and take a vacation. After all, if you're not here, they can't shoot the movie anyway, so I might as well spend time with you."

After a long day of "hard work", which was characterized by Albel making tons of bloopers due to his inability to concentrate and his tendency to call Fayt fool…Luther decided to have a long talk with Albel.

"I don't understand this, Albel. You like working with Fayt. We pay you well. Why aren't you doing your job?"

Albel sighed. "I know. I like working, especially with Fayt." He smirked. "And especially when it calls for lemons."

"Exactly." Luther glanced at the paper in his hands. "I've got smut, limes, lemons, yaoi…I put those in practically everything I have you do. You're just damned good at those and the fangirls eat it up. But you have to get past the mundane introductions of character to the audience before I can throw you and Fayt together in a hot steamy bedroom scene."

"Speaking of that…" Albel muttered. "If we're doing a movie about me and Fayt, in modern times…where are Fayt's parents? Aren't they supposed to be umm…alive?"

"Good point. I'll bring them in tomorrow."

"Nah, cancel that. I think I need a vacation. I've been working too hard."

Luther nodded sagely. "Yes, you tend to do that when Fayt is on the set."

"Stop making everything perverted!" Fayt yelled from across the set.

Luther glanced at Albel thoughtfully. "Well, I guess you do need to get away from the business for awhile, do some outside research on modern times. It's a shame you're stuck in the studio all day everyday. You need to go out and be free. You can have a month off and that's it. That's enough time to take care of your raging sex drive and be back in time to finish the production."

"Actually, Fayt and I are going to get married."

"Well, as long as you keep it in the dark to everyone else, it shouldn't be a problem. But as soon as Sophia finds out you're married, she'll want to marry someone. And then Cliff will want to marry someone and it'll be a mess. But I trust you two to keep a secret."

"Woo-hoo! We're getting married!" Fayt screeched, leaping into Albel's arms. He giggled as Albel carried him outside to the sports car that Albel had almost forgotten existed.

Luther rolled his eyes and tried to ignore it. Everyone else had come out of their rooms and was standing in the hallway, staring towards the open outside door, the door nobody used most of the time.

Luther scowled and quickly shut the door. "Albel is hallucinating. I've sent him to a psychiatric ward. Now, stop worrying about him and get back to work."

"But where's Fayt?" Sophia asked, pouting.

"He's going with him. Do you think I'd let Albel drive in that kind of condition?"

"I suppose not," Sophia said with a heavy sigh.

"Good. Now forget about them for a bit. You're supposed to be working on a spy movie with Mirage...and-"

"How can I forget about it?" Sophia demanded. "They're probably having sex twenty times a day! They do it onscreen all the time, so why not off-screen too?"

"Acting is completely different from real life. They don't know how to have sex…they've never really done it, no matter how many storylines focus on lemons with those two…it's just acting. It's not real."

"I guess you're right," Sophia admitted reluctantly.

Meanwhile….Albel and Fayt hadn't even left the parking lot. Albel was determined to prove that sometimes, reality and fantasy weren't that much different.

Fayt lay panting across the seat of the sports car, most of his clothing torn away. He looked up at Albel feverishly. "Do you know what you're doing?"

Albel considered. "Well…I know what I'm supposed to be doing, but whether or not I'm actually doing it is up for interpretation."

Fayt groaned and let his head drop heavily back against the seat. "You've never done this before, have you?"

"Nope. I got pulled in by the acting company at 16 and after that, rarely got out of that place. It's like a prison." He absently trailed a finder down Fayt's chest.

Fayt hissed and drew in a sharp breath. "Oh god."

Albel looked amused. "You haven't done this before either."

Fayt looked pained. "Of course not. I was waiting for you."

"Good. Less talking, more moaning."


End file.
